Social and cultural history Books

Book SynopsisFollowing on from Jim Stringer's first book `An Austin Anthology,' this second volume features 20 more stories relating to the Austin Motor Company, its products and the people who purchased them. The author takes a look at the very first Austin to be built, and discovers why it was able to be offered to the public so quickly after the Company's formation only a few month's earlier. He also uncovers how the single-cylinder Austin Seven, whilst designed at Longbridge, was actually built at the Swift Motor Car factory in Coventry, and offered as a Swift or an Austin. In 1908 Herbert Austin produced four 100hp racing cars to compete at the French Grand Prix in Dieppe. But what happened to them afterwards? And is the only survivor, now on display at the British Heritage Museum, Gaydon as genuine as it would appear? And then there is the story of Daisy Fearon, whose only means of transport was a 1928 Austin which she'd owned since 1931. As Daisy aged, her driving became less and less predictable, causing those who knew her to run for cover when she was seen at the wheel. An amusing and nostalgic collection of stories, illustrated with original period photographs, An Austin Anthology II is bound to entertain and delight all Austin enthusiasts.Trade ReviewAmusing and fascinating insiders' tales from the early days of Austin. Classic Cars --- Enjoy. Big End/All Torque ---The book makes a welcome addition to the history of Austin and Pre War motoring and cars. Dorset Austin 7 Club Magazine --- THIS tells a further series of stories about Austins with charm, humour and period photos ... This is fun, and good for younger enthusiasts. Auto Express --- an amusing and entertaining book of trivia that will be new info to many. Classic Car Weekly --- A fun, amusing and nostalgic collection of stories, illustrated with original period photographs, this should delight all Austin enthusiasts. Classic Driver. James Stringer, Vice President of the Vintage Austin Register, has once again excelled in this new Austin Anthology book. His encyclopaedic knowledge of the Austin marque knows no bounds and coupled with what must have been very extensive research has resulted in a twenty two more articles on all things Austin. A fascinating insight ... Jim's style holds the reader and with the many illustrations makes it a book you don't want to put down. It's well worth a buy. - Austin Seven Clubs Association. Austin historian and author James Stringer's new book is even more impressive and more revealing than his first. This superbly illustrated, thoroughly researched 112-page expose of some 22 previously little-known stories is a must for true Austin devotees and vintage/classic car enthusiasts, or all persuasions and interests. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read. - County Counsel. --- Something for everyone. - The Vintage Austin Magazine. It should inform and amuse any Austin enthusiast. - New Zealand Classic Car. --- will certainly find favour among marque enthusiasts. - Classic & Sports CarTable of Contents1 The very first Austin. 2 Wos ist mein Dixi. 3 Liquorice Sweets collector cards. 4 Zita Austin's Nanny. 5 The mystery of two garages. 6 The Austin 7 which ran on rails. 7 Driving Miss Daisy. 8 Singing about the Austin 7. 9 Alf Depper - an Austin Pioneer. 10 Maple Leaf IV. 11 Funny little Austin 7's. 12 A funny thing happened on the way to the cemetery. 13 Sergeant Murphy. 14 No. 45. 15 The Rear engine Austin. 16 Don't Try This at Home. 17 I am the only manager here. 18 The 100 hp Austin's. 19 Taking a Swift look at the Austin Seven. 20 And Finally.

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Book SynopsisHow did a venerable Indian spiritual discipline turn into a £20 billion-a-year mainstay of the wellness industry? What happened along yoga’s winding path from the caves and forests of the sages to the gyms, hospitals and village halls of the modern West? This comprehensive history sets yoga in its global cultural context for the first time, leading us on a journey from arcane religious rituals and medieval body-magic, through Christianity and the British Empire, to Indian nationalists and the twentieth-century West. Yoga has now become embedded in powerful social currents including feminism, digital media, celebrity culture, the stress pandemic and the quest for authentic identity. Shearer’s revealing history boasts a colourful cast of characters past and present, in an engaging tale of scholars and scandal, science and spirit, wisdom and waywardness. This is the untold story of yoga, warts and all.Trade Review‘This is a tale of what happens when East and West meet, and about a shift from the sacred to the secular. [Yoga’s] journey west gives Shearer a compelling cast of characters.’ -- The Sunday Times'Erudite, scholarly and engrossing.' -- The Sunday Telegraph'A clear-eyed, elegantly written and wonderfully informative history of yoga … Shearer’s remarkable book is a wide-ranging and rather sobering discussion on the nature of authenticity.’ -- Spectator‘Amid a sea of guidebooks, historian Alistair Shearer has provided a worthwhile counterpoint, [offering] advice as important as any guru’s techniques.’ -- Financial Times‘A quick-witted and erudite chronicle of the Hindu practice that is now a lucrative staple of “wellness” in the West.’ -- The Wall Street Journal‘This is a compelling history of how an amazing ancient art became an integral part of western life.’ -- The Irish Times‘Shearer … writes with exquisite sensitivity about the teacher-student relationship.’ -- Hindustan Times‘An ambitious book indeed … [with] a scholarly side, and a catchy journalistic verve.’'This is a fascinating survey not only for practitioners of the world’s burgeoning Wellness industry [but also] for general readers anxious about the fate of civilisation itself.' -- Asian Affairs Journal‘Erudite, informative and witty … I cannot over-emphasize the grace and humour of the text as well as its seriousness of purpose.’ -- Journal of the Scientific and Medical Network'The history of East meeting West through Yoga is as complex and enigmatic as it is important. Alistair Shearer unfolds the narrative with just the right combination of scholarly rigour and compelling prose.' -- Philip Goldberg, author of 'American Veda' and 'The Life of Yogananda'' "The Story of Yoga" offers an absorbing chronicle of the rise of yoga, tracing its evolution through history to its rapid global proliferation today, with insights into the challenges on the way ahead. Exceedingly accessible and engaging, this is the definitive account of the remarkable growth of one of the world's most popular and beneficial human activities.' -- Shashi Tharoor, author of 'Inglorious Empire''Frequently amusing, but always scholarly and engaging, Shearer's study deftly works it way through the history of yoga, from the purity of Patanjali's Sutras to the mix'n'match brands endorsed by modern celebrities.' -- John Zubrzycki, author of 'Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic'

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Book SynopsisThrough a series of original interviews, specially commissioned photography and fascinating archive material, England Our England tells the personal stories of the black and Asian pioneers who crossed the waters to make Britain their home. Rich portraits and moving personal accounts show how they dealt bravely with the shock of rejection and cold weather, the difficulties of finding work and making connections with the British, but also how their achievements ultimately transcended both their own expectations and those of the country in which they came to live, creating the multicultural society that we know today and a rich legacy for future generations. The book includes interviews with Russell Henderson, co-founder of the Notting Hill Carnival, Yvonne Bailey-Smith, mother of novelist Zadie Smith, playwright Mustapha Matura, film director Horace Ové and Deloris Smith, mother of singer Beverley Knight.

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Book SynopsisThe Fatimids ruled much of the Mediterranean world for over two centuries. From the conquest of Qayrawan in 909 to defeat at the hands of Saladin in 1171, the Fatimid caliphate governed a vast area stretching, at its peak, from the Red Sea in the East to the Atlantic Ocean in the West. Their leaders - the Ismaili Shi`i Imam-caliphs - were distinctive in largely pursuing a policy of tolerance towards the religious and ethnic communities of their realm, and they embraced diverse approaches to the practicalities of administering a vast empire. Such methods of negotiating government and diversity created a lasting pluralistic legacy. The present volume, edited by Farhad Daftary and Shainool Jiwa, brings together a series of original contributions from a number of leading authorities in the field. Based on analyses of primary sources, the chapters shed fresh light on the impact of Fatimid rule. The book presents little explored aspects of state-society relations such as the Fatimid model of the vizierate, Sunni legal responses to Fatimid observance, and the role of women in prayer. Highlighting the distinctive nature of the Fatimid empire and its legacy, this book will be of special interest to researchers in mediaeval Islamic history and thought.Table of ContentsList of Contributors Note on Transliteration and Abbreviations Introduction Farhad Daftary and Shainool Jiwa 1. The Early Ismaili Imamate: Background to the Establishment of the Fatimid Caliphate Farhad Daftary 2. The Baghdad Manifesto (402/1011): A Re-Examination of Fatimid-Abbasid Rivalry Shainool Jiwa 3. Was the Fatimid Amir al-Juyush in fact a Wazir? Paul E. Walker 4. `Leading from the Middle’: Al-Qadi al-Nu'man on Female Prayer Leadership Simonetta Calderini 5. Al-Turtushi and the Fatimids Maribel Fierro 6. Transmitting Sunni Learning in Fatimid Egypt: The Female Voices Delia Cortese 7. The Fatimid Legacy and the Foundation of the Modern Nizari Imamate Daniel Beben Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisAfter the granting of the vote to women in 1918, the struggle for women's rights intensified with a nationwide campaign for the right to birth control. This campaign was met with a great deal of hostility; it threatened to overturn Victorian ideas about female sexuality, female empowerment and the traditional roles within the family. The most well known of the campaigners, scientist and early feminist Marie Stopes, opened clinics across England which fitted 'contraception caps' to women for free. The first history of this grassroots social movement, After the Suffragettes offers a window into the social and cultural history of the period, and features new archival material in the forms of memoirs, personal papers and press cuttings. This is an essential contribution to the influential field of women's history and a vital addition to the history of feminism.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Abbreviations 1. Rediscovering the Post-suffrage Birth Control Campaign 2. The Emergence of the Birth Control Movement 3. Birth Control- a Feminist Issue? 4. Anatomy of the Birth Control Clinics 5.Challenging the Opposition 6. Shifting Ideologies: Birth Controllers, Feminists, the Malthusian League and Eugenics Society 7. Working the Political Parties 8. The End of the Campaign? Appendix: Collective Biography of Birth Control Activists Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn 1939, a ten-year-old Igor Golomstock accompanied his mother, a medical doctor, to the vast network of labour camps in the Russian Far East. While she tended patients, he was minded by assorted 'trusty' prisoners – hardened criminals – and returned to Moscow an almost feral adolescent, fluent in obscene prison jargon but intellectually ignorant. Despite this dubious start he became a leading art historian and co-author (with his close friend Andrey Sinyavsky) of the first, deeply controversial, monograph on Picasso published in the Soviet Union. His writings on his 43 years in the Soviet Union offer a rare insight into life as a quietly subversive art historian and the post-Stalin dissident community. In vivid prose Golomstock shows the difficulties of publishing, curating and talking about Western art in Soviet Russia and, with self-deprecating humour, the absurd tragicomedy of life for the Moscow intelligentsia during Khruschev's thaw and Brezhnev's stagnation. He also offers a unique personal perspective on the 1966 trial of Sinyavsky and Yuri Daniel, widely considered the end of Khruschev's liberalism and the spark that ignited the Soviet dissident movement. In 1972 he was given ‘permission’ to leave the Soviet Union, but only after paying a ‘ransom’ of more than 25 years’ salary, nominally intended to reimburse the state for his education. A remarkable collection of artists, scholars and intellectuals in Russia and the West, including Roland Penrose, came together to help him pay this astronomical sum. His memoirs of life once in the UK offer an insider's view of the BBC Russian Service and a penetrating analysis of the notorious feud between Sinyavsky and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Nominated for the Russian Booker Prize on its publication in Russian in 2014, The Ransomed Dissident opens a window onto the life of a remarkable man: a dissident of uncompromising moral integrity and with an outstanding gift for friendship.Trade ReviewWritten in brisk, engaging prose, with a salutary dash of gallows humour … So rich is it in detail of key institutions and figures that it stands in its own right as a singularly valuable record of the era and milieu … An apt companion to Golomstock’s own critical work. * Times Literary Supplement *‘Igor Golomstock was a talented critic of Russian and Western art and he had an extraordinary biography, from childhood in Kolyma to dissident years in Moscow, followed by emigration to Britain. He writes about all this like a Solzhenitsyn character come to life, and the result is gripping, sad and often very funny. A must for anyone who wants to understand Russia and Russian culture.’ -- Catriona Kelly, Professor of Russian, University of Oxford and author of St Petersburg: Shadows of the Past‘Golomstock recounts in lively style his life in three separate communities: the Moscow art world of the 1960s, the human rights movement and the post-1970s émigré milieu of London, Paris and Munich. He is an observer with strong but discriminating opinions; seldom have the personalities who inhabited these worlds – and who in many cases hated each other – been so vividly portrayed. This is an essential study for those who wish to understand the cultural and political conflicts of the late Soviet Union and the Russian emigration.’ -- Geoffrey Hosking, Emeritus Professor of Russian History, University College London and author of Russia and the Russians: From Earliest Times to the Present‘A Ransomed Dissident is Igor Golomstock’s most personal book and a perfect companion to his encyclopedic study Totalitarian Art (2012). In the past, some critics have argued that the term ‘Totalitarian Art’ was too vague and that its very vagueness made it too easy to apply the term to such different countries as Russia, Germany, Italy and China. Following Golomstock’s dramatic journey through the circles of the Soviet totalitarian art and culture, however, readers of A Ransomed Dissident will see how the supposedly vague term acquired a very real existential meaning. This is important reading for anyone with an interest in the history and politics of Russian art.’ -- Vladimir Paperny, Adjunct Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, UCLATable of ContentsList of Illustrations Translator’s Note Acknowledgements Turning Point Part I. Russia 1. My Father’s Arrest 2. Kolyma 3. Moscow 4. Finances and Romances 5. The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts Comrade Novikov Abram Efros and Andre´ Gide The Museum of New Western Art 6. The International Festival and Artists 7. The Sinyavskys, Khlebny Lane, the Far North 8. Dancing Around Picasso 9. The Museum Again 10. VNIITE 11. Great Expectations 12. The Sinyavsky-Daniel Trial 13. Dissidents 14. Pen Portraits of My Friends 15. Questions of Faith 16. A Waiting Game 17. Departure: An Obstacle Race Part II. Emigration Translator’s Note to Part II 18. The Journal Kontinent 19. The Anthony Blunt Affair 20. Radio Liberty, Galich 21. At the BBC 22. The Second Trial of Andrey Sinyavsky 23. Politics versus Aesthetics 24. Sinyavsky’s Last Years 25. Perestroika 26. Family Matters Instead of a Conclusion The Benefits of Pessimism Afterword Notes Dramatis Personae Appendix I Appendix II Select Bibliography Index

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Fashion reveals not only who we are, but whom we aspire to be. From 1775 to 1925, artists in Europe were especially attuned to the gaps between appearance and reality, participating in and often critiquing the making of the self and the image. Reading their portrayals of modern life with an eye to fashion and dress reveals a world of complex calculations and subtle signals. Fashion in European Art explores the significance of historical dress over this period of upheaval, as well as the lived experience of dress and its representation. Drawing on visual sources that extend from paintings and photographs to fashion plates, caricatures and advertisements, the expert contributors consider how artists and their sitters engaged with the fashion and culture of their times. They explore the politics of dress, its inspirations and the reactions it provoked, as well as the many meanings of fashion in European art, revealing its importance in understanding modernity itself.

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Book SynopsisAs the world speeds up, as technology takes over, it is worth remembering how we used to live. This three-book series is a nostalgic hymn to an era when life was slower: a meandering ramble through the British countryside by bicycle, automobile and train. Take an amble across the countryside with this book, which celebrates a time when our railway network was more than a permanently delayed omnishambles of overcrowded and overpriced trains. Country stations and lonely halts, milk churns and coal yards, enamelled signs and platform clocks - these are the fragments of a more leisured age, from a time when the local station was a well-loved institution at the heart of so many communities. Here are gas-lit rural stations, oil lamps on level crossing gates, enamelled signs, waiting room fires, timetables and luggage labels. Less a clattering, steamy ride into the past than a touchstone for joyous memories of such a vital and well-loved institution, The Slow Train harks back to a more measured, considered era.

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Book SynopsisA lavishly illustrated celebration of the golden age of aircraft, cars, ships and locomotives from 1900 to 1941 by the author of the bestselling Empire of the Clouds. This dazzling book describes the flourishing of transport and travel, and the engineering that made it possible, in the years before the Second World War. It is an homage to the great vehicles and their mechanisms, their cultural impact and the social change they enabled. James Hamilton-Paterson explores the pinnacle of the steam engine, the advent and glory days of the luxury motorcar and the monster vehicles used in land speed records, the marvellous fast ocean liners and the excitement and beauty of increasingly aerodynamic forms of passenger aircraft. These were the days when for most people long-distance travel was a dream, and the dream-like glamour of these machines has never been surpassed. Hamilton-Paterson has an unrivalled ability to write evocatively about engineering and design in their historical context, and in this book he brings a vanished era to life.Trade ReviewAirships and electric cars take centre stage in this fascinating transport book * Scotsman *Lavishly illustrated with wonderful photographs... Unusually for this type of picture book, it is elegantly written, by somene who has an easy command of his subject, and firm opinions. It is the opposite of bland' * Mail on Sunday *This book is full of extraordinary images and bizarre facts – barely a page goes by without some amazing form of transport, whether real or imagined * Yorkshire Post *Hamilton-Paterson describes the extraordinary progress made in each individual category of transport * This England *Transports the reader back to an era when travel really was the stuff of dreams – for both the man in the street, and the man behind the drawing board * On Yorkshire Magazine *

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Book SynopsisIn late August 2015, international media outlets and cultural institutions reported that the Islamic State beheaded the Syrian scholar Khaled al Asaad and destroyed the 1st-century CE Temple of Bel in Palmyra, Syria. The world was horrorstruck. Apart from the human tragedy, archaeologists and the international communities were shocked by the wanton destruction of ancient remains that had survived for millennia. However, warfare and ideological destruction contribute just a fraction of the ongoing devastation of our forebears' traces. This book brings attention to the magnitude of the silent loss of cultural heritage occurring worldwide and the even more insidious loss of knowledge due to the lack of publication and preservation of original data, notes, plans, and photographs of excavated archaeological sites. Highlighting a growing sense of urgency to intervene in whatever way possible, this book provides readers with a non-technical overview of how archaeologists and other stakeholders are increasingly turning to digital methods to mitigate some of the threats to at-risk cultural heritage. This volume is a gateway to enhancing the scale and reach of capturing, analyzing, managing, curating, and disseminating cultural heritage knowledge in sustainable ways and promoting collaboration among scholars and stakeholder communities.Table of ContentsPreface Introduction - A Sense of Urgency Chapter 1 - At-Risk Cultural Heritage, Open Communication, and Stealth Archaeology Chapter 2 - Global Heritage, Knowledge Provenance, and Digital Preservation: Defining A Critical Approach Chapter 3 - Resolving Analog and Digital Records in Cultural Heritage Sites in Mexico: The Case of Cempoala Chapter 4 - From the Field to the CAVE: a Workflow for Collecting, Storing, and Sharing Archaeological Data Chapter 5 - A Diversified Approach to Earthen Architecture Conservation: Implementing Digital Monitoring and Spatial Analysis at Çatalhöyük Chapter 6 - Ancient Egyptian Coffins in 3D: Digital Analysis, Visualization, and Dissemination Chapter 7 - The Digital Context of At-Risk Textual Archives Chapter 8 - CAVEkiosk: Cultural Heritage Visualization and Dissemination Chapter 9 - Data as At-Risk Cultural Heritage: The Dig Data Publication Initiative Chapter 10 - At-Risk Worldwide: Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Digital Data Chapter 11 - CollectionSpace at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology: A Strategic Information Platform

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Book SynopsisFood Rules and Rituals includes selected papers from the 2023 Oxford Food Symposium. Grounded in a number of different disciplines, writers from around the globe consider how rules and rituals structure the experiences and meanings of consuming foods in a wide variety of contexts.

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Book SynopsisThe 'Chalet des Anglais' on Mont Blanc, home to the longest-running university reading party, is a unique survivor from Victorian and Edwardian Oxford, established in 1891 and continuing today. The story of this remarkable institution has never previously been reported. Oxford University on Mont Blanc: The Life of the Chalet des Anglais records the life of the reading parties and of the notable personalities involved in them, including Harold Macmillan and Lord Hailsham. The writers Evelyn Waugh, Rupert Brooke and John Betjeman also feature in the history of the Chalet. The book explores the effects within the background of a collegiate university that this unique institution has had on the lives of those involved. The chalet is a unique lens through which to understand what is meant by a collegiate university and also to illustrate the implications of close student-tutor relationships over the last century.

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Book SynopsisThis overview of the financial history of St John's College, Oxford from the College's foundation in 1555 up until 1980 documents in detail how the richest college in Oxford very nearly lost everything. As well as providing a window on the past, Intellectual Capital also gives historical perspective to challenges the College faces today. Drawing on three main data sources - including the College's own archives and the Ministry of Housing and local government records available at the National Archives - Intellectual Capital establishes a quantitative overview of College's financial history and investigates in depth the financial decision-making behind, and consequences of, the development of North Oxford. Despite St John's' extensive records and a more varied financial history than almost any other Oxbridge college, this is the first time the finances of St John's have received such detailed attention.

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Book SynopsisFootball's culture is complex and controversial. Debates rage over rules, transfers, wages and rich owners who prioritise income streams and elite league status. But the sport has a nobler side. Clubs become families who celebrate the good times and collectively mourn tragic events. This community culture is embedded in football and the same questions have been asked for generations. What is a fair salary? How can we help to educate and support children and families in need? Who stands up for the rights of the voiceless? This book journeys through the industrial heartlands in and around Glasgow, Birmingham and Manchester to explore how migration, industry and the aspirations of working-class people and their employers influenced the early structure and culture of English and Scottish football. Often serious, sometimes funny, it reveals how ordinary people experienced life and the rise of the beautiful game in the 19th and 20th centuries, drawing on material from club archives, newspapers, personal anecdotes and military records.Trade Review"Has football lost its soul? With major clubs being snapped up by Third World dictatorships while those in the lower divisions either face financial oblivion or are left at the mercy of opportunist developers, it certainly seems so. This excellent book recalls a time before all that, when the once beautiful game was still young and rooted in its local communities, and to some extent that spirit still lives on, especially in the lower reaches of the football pyramid. Mixing family recollections with in-depth archive research the book shows how the aspirations of working-class people in the major industrial conurbations found expression through football, the sense of community and shared purpose providing a haven and comfort in hard times. It’s full of great stories, and some brilliant, evocative photos." -- Simon Evans * Choice Magazine, Pick of the Paperbacks *

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Book SynopsisThis book aims to shine a light illuminating stories of courage, often against incredible odds, capturing experiences from around the world from people of black heritage. It will take you on a journey to many countries, people, times and events. Some stories will be familiar. But there are far too much that was worryingly new. Achievements and successes against incredible odds were numerous. Many doors opened revealing more horror, racism, prejudice and discrimination. The aim is to bring the Black narrative, the Black experience, and Black contributions, positive and negative, to a wider audience.

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Book SynopsisThis book aims to bring the Black narrative to the broadest possible audience. It is not just for one community but wishes to draw all communities into an understanding, awareness and celebration of an often underrepresented aspect of history. Hanging on what happened on this day throughout the year, the reader is encouraged to consume a daily dose of the Black story experiencing the highs, lows, excitement, despair, challenges and successes. Each day, one is encouraged to read; January 1st to December 31st, to gain insight into seeing the world through Black eyes and minds. With two volumes my fear is that I have only begun to scratch the surface of our collective stories.

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Book SynopsisThis book aims to shine a light illuminating stories of courage, often against incredible odds, capturing experiences from around the world from people of black heritage. It will take you on a journey to many countries, people, times and events. Some stories will be familiar. But there are far too much that was worryingly new. Achievements and successes against incredible odds were numerous. Many doors opened revealing more horror, racism, prejudice and discrimination. The aim is to bring the Black narrative, the Black experience, and Black contributions, positive and negative, to a wider audience.

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Book SynopsisThis book aims to bring the Black narrative to the broadest possible audience. It is not just for one community but wishes to draw all communities into an understanding, awareness and celebration of an often underrepresented aspect of history. Hanging on what happened on this day throughout the year, the reader is encouraged to consume a daily dose of the Black story experiencing the highs, lows, excitement, despair, challenges and successes. Each day, one is encouraged to read; January 1st to December 31st, to gain insight into seeing the world through Black eyes and minds. With two volumes my fear is that I have only begun to scratch the surface of our collective stories.

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Book SynopsisQueens and princesses have always shown care and compassion, but many went much further. They were not afraid to roll up their sleeves, work in wards or help in field hospitals and operating theatres, despite their sheltered upbringings. Through wars and revolutions across Europe, their experiences were similar to those of thousands of other nurses, but this is the first time that their involvement in nursing and the extent of their influence on the profession has been detailed in full.Beginning with two daughters of Queen Victoria – Princess Alice and Princess Helena – Princesses on the Wards looks at the difficulties these royals faced while carving a worthwhile role in an age when the place of a well-born woman was considered to be in the home. Empress Alexandra of Russia, Queen Marie of Romania, Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, and Princess Alice of Greece (mother of the Duke of Edinburgh) were just a few of Queen Victoria’s relatives who set an example of service well beyond that considered necessary for their rank. Not all of them were fully trained nurses, but each made a positive contribution towards alleviating suffering which cannot be overestimated.

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Book SynopsisDid you know?• The first African community to arrive in England was stationed at Aballava on Hadrian's Wall to keep out the Picts.• Admiral Robert FitzRoy, creator of the Met Office, was so upset by criticism of his weather forecasts that he shot himself.• While studying at Cambridge, Charles Darwin formed the 'Glutton Club' for the purpose of eating unusual animals.• Ada Lovelace wrote a computer code in the nineteenth century, before a working computer had even been invented.• Maids of Honour at Henry VIII’s court were given eight pints of ale per day and his army mutinied in Spain when the ale ran out.A little book about a BIG subject. England's not huge in land mass, but there is a lot to say about this little country. Yes, we'll be touching on the obvious bits – Shakespeare, 1966, disappointing weather, etc., but we'll also be going in search of what's under the surface of English history, society and culture.What is it that makes England England? People all over the world think they know the answer to that: the King or Queen, awkward politeness, Beefeaters and losing in penalties in international football. But we English know that we're a bit more complicated than such stereotypes. Or are we? Let's find out.

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Book SynopsisFrom regicides to revolutionaries; from fascists to anarchists; from Tom Paine to Tom Wintringham, this book is a history of noble ideals and crushing failures in which Clive Bloom takes us on a journey through British history, exploring our often rocky relationship with the ruling elite. A History of Britian's Fight for a Republic reveals our surprising legacy of terrorism and revolution, reminding us that Britain has witnessed centuries of revolt. This is a history encompassing three bloody civil wars in Ireland, the bombing campaigns by the IRA, two Welsh uprisings, one Lowland Scottish civil war, uprisings in Derbyshire and Kent, five attempts to assassinate the entire cabinet and seize London, and numerous attempts to murder the royal family.This new and revised edition takes the story of modern monarchy back to its origins in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and forward to the reign of Charles III and includes the story of the continuing struggle for democratic rights and republican values from medieval times up to the present struggle for Scottish and Welsh independence.

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Book SynopsisTerrifying raids, thousands of bombs and countless petrified inhabitants of Britain’s busiest cities. These are the prevailing images of the Blitz and the Home Front in the Second World War. However, for the people who experienced it, it was so much more and affected every aspect of their existence.Surviving the Home Front explores through contemporary newspaper reports and advertisements the effect the Blitz had on issues as varied as fashion, food, transport and more. It explores how facets of humanity showed themselves through individual tales of heroism, eccentricity and humour, but above all Stuart Hylton shows how the irrepressible spirit of the British people overcame a period of harsh austerity combined with the fresh terrors that appeared in their skies almost every night.

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Book SynopsisHow did Aberdeen revolutionise modern midwifery and mother and baby care? Whether you were born in – or gave birth in – Aberdeen or elsewhere, you will probably have benefitted from the pioneering work of some of the people mentioned in this book.Bringing life to Aberdeen highlights many of the individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of midwifery and neonatal services, and describes their influence and impact. Foremost amongst these are the lasting and defining accomplishments of Professor Sir Dugald Baird and Lady May Baird who give their name to a new hospital dedicated to the care of women and their babies in North East Scotland, known as the Baird Family Hospital.From Margaret Bane, an Aberdeenshire ‘howdie’ (midwife) accused of witchcraft in 1597 and put to death, to Margaret Myles, born in Aberdeen in 1892 and responsible for Myles Textbook for Midwives which – now in its 17th edition – remains the definitive resource on practical midwifery, through to the present day, the story of the people who have brought life to Aberdeen is truly remarkable. Trade Review‘It is a profoundly moving story which these editors have put together for us, the story of huge improvements in the care of mothers, the care of babies and the consequent improved rights of women and the creation of a more civilised society.’BARNEY CROCKETT, Lord Provost of Aberdeen (2017–22)

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Book SynopsisHow did Aberdeen revolutionise modern midwifery and mother and baby care? Whether you were born in – or gave birth in – Aberdeen or elsewhere, you will probably have benefitted from the pioneering work of some of the people mentioned in this book.Bringing life to Aberdeen highlights many of the individuals who have made major contributions to the advancement of midwifery and neonatal services, and describes their influence and impact. Foremost amongst these are the lasting and defining accomplishments of Professor Sir Dugald Baird and Lady May Baird who give their name to a new hospital dedicated to the care of women and their babies in North East Scotland, known as the Baird Family Hospital.From Margaret Bane, an Aberdeenshire ‘howdie’ (midwife) accused of witchcraft in 1597 and put to death, to Margaret Myles, born in Aberdeen in 1892 and responsible for Myles Textbook for Midwives which – now in its 17th edition – remains the definitive resource on practical midwifery, through to the present day, the story of the people who have brought life to Aberdeen is truly remarkable. Trade Review‘It is a profoundly moving story which these editors have put together for us, the story of huge improvements in the care of mothers, the care of babies and the consequent improved rights of women and the creation of a more civilised society.’BARNEY CROCKETT, Lord Provost of Aberdeen (2017–22)

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Book SynopsisIn 1973 a group of North Wales building workers were arrested for picketing-related offences during the first and only national building workers strike in Britain the year before. It was a turning point for halting the growth of trade unionism in the building industry, from which it has never recovered. A Very British Conspiracy is the first book to tell the full story of how the state prosecuted these workers and the campaign that was established to overturn this miscarriage of justice. Eileen Turnbull uncovers government and police documents that reveal the careful planning of the prosecution of the 24 men. She forensically reveals how the state used the criminal justice system to secure convictions. It analyses how, in the absence of hard evidence, the Police and prosecution went to extraordinary lengths to criminalise trade unionists.The premature death of the lead picket, Des Warren, was the catalyst for a group of North West trade unionists and several of the pickets to come together in 2006 to organise a campaign to achieve justice. In March 2021, the convictions were finally quashed by the Court of Appeal. The book describes how the pickets and their families felt after forty-eight years being ostracised and considered as criminals in their communities, as well as the response of the Campaign committee members who had brought this historic victory about.Trade ReviewThis is the moving and inspiring story of the determined search for justice for the modern day equivalent of the Tolpuddle martyrs against the full might of the establishment and the heroic role played by a very special woman. -- John McDonnell, MPIncisive, compelling and moving. Exposes in forensic detail how the Conservative government, police and judiciary interfered in legitimate trade union activity, colluding against building workers fighting for dignity, decency and safety. And charts how a 47-year struggle for the truth overturned one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history. A magnificent book about working-class solidarity. -- Frances O'Grady, General Secretary, Trades Union CongressWhat a fantastically forensic account of one of the worst miscarriages of justice in our long trade union history. I want Eileen on my side on every occasion; her grit, tenacity, dedication and commitment for justice for the Shrewsbury pickets is phenomenal. She truly is an inspiration to all workers. Her message is simple: never, ever give in; never, ever give up. Fight on and meet the many challenges; tell truth to power. -- Ian Lavery, MPHighly recommended. Eileen Turnbull's account of the massive and meticulous conspiracy waged against the Shrewsbury Pickets is full of illuminating insights, wonderful anecdotes and stories. She exposes the British Establishment and reinforces my belief in the courage, tenacity and resilience of working class women and men. -- Jim Mowatt, Director, UNITE the unionThis powerful story tells of the incredible courage of Eileen and the many others who fought a long battle for justice against unimaginably powerful forces. With attacks on trade unions intensifying, this book serves as a timely reminder of the importance of the labour movement and the workers it represents. -- Mark Serwotka, General Secretary of PCS unionAn essential, meticulously researched account of government, employer and media collusion to manufacture fictitious information to demonise striking workers. It exposes the harsh reality of a system prepared to criminalise trade unionists for standing up to vindictive and abusive employers. The courageous determination of the Shrewsbury 24 Campaign and the inspirational persistence of Eileen has overturned this gross miscarriage of justice leaving us in no doubt that, when we never give up, we win! -- Kate Flannery, Secretary, Orgreave Truth & Justice CampaignEileen Turnbull is one of those extraordinary working-class heroes who should be honoured by their country but in our class-riven society rarely are. -- John Green * Morning Star *For the first time, Eileen reveals why the building strike was always personal to her - and why she dedicated years of her life to winning justice. -- Ros Wynne Jones * Daily Mirror *A history lesson with a real resonance for today. -- Keith Richmond * ASLEF Journal *Turnbull leaves no stone unturned ... Her tenacity and unwavering belief in workers' rights leads the way and would be a thought-provoking read for many ... An inspiring and dedicated piece of work -- Sian Collinson * National Education Union Magazine *Without Eileen Turnbull the pickets would never have won justice ... This magnificent book highlights the collusion, the deceit, the conspiracy, and the coming together of the politicians, the police, the construction employers and the judiciary. It casts a very dirty stain on the very people who profess to be the pillars of society. -- Barckley Sumner * buildingWORKER Magazine *Every now and then you read a book that you immediately want to tell other people about, that you believe is important and that what you have learned from reading it is essential for others to read. A Very British Conspiracy is such a book ... Turnbull has produced a must read for all trade unionists. -- Stephen Smellie * Scottish Left Review *A wonderful, and highly readable book ... a fascinating story, well-told, by a very generous individual. -- Richard Allday * Counterfire *

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Book SynopsisA social and economic history of Lowland Scotland over the last 300 years as told through the story of the author's family.

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Book Synopsis'My dear, she's on fire!' DAMIAN BARR'A snappy guide to an all-conquering aesthetic' Financial Times'The following things have seemed impossibly camp to me at one point or another: a doll whose body acts as a cover for a toilet roll, a tantrum over wire coat hangers, a 1950s muscle magazine featuring a photo of a young man dressed as a gladiator, and a rat underneath a silver serving platter'An essential reappraisal of camp across time and across the globe, from the author of Fabulosa! and Outrageous!Camp has been an inescapable part of popular culture for at least the last 150 years. Famously unrestrained and ever evolving, it has not only captured the cultural imagination, but also played an important role as a form of protest and resistance. Paul Baker takes us through camp's rebellious and revolutionary past with warmth, humour and sensitivity, starting with the court of Louis XIV and the dandies of the eighteenth century through to Showgirls, Harlem's drag balls and Columbian telenovelas.Throughout its history, camp has been a place of refuge and renewal, of heroism and hedonism. This glorious celebration traces camp's journey from the fringes of society to the mainstream.Trade ReviewMy dear, she's on fire! From low camp to high, from Louis XIV to Ru Paul, Baker charts the rise-and-rise of camp. Glittering cultural armour for dark times. Paul Baker captures essence of an essentially uncapturable phenomenon making it just knowable enough for all. Delightful! -- Damian BarrA snappy guide to an all-conquering aesthetic . . . Baker deserves a toast - preferably out of a rhinestone-spangled goblet * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisBy turns flexible and delicate, taciturn and effusive, this collection of memoirs and micro-essays project in filmic clarity the cool head, dry wit and social conscience that have made Su Tong the ‘master of implication’ among China’s leading writers. Ranging from street-level portraits of a boisterous and rapidly changing nation to quiet musings on humanity’s strange and secret compulsions, Su Tong offers a glimpse behind the curtain into the workings of a keen mind that helped shape the literary and popular culture of modern China.

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Book SynopsisAfter a decade away from her ancestral family village, during which she became a writer and literary scholar in Beijing, Liang Hong started visiting her rural hometown in landlocked Hebei province. What she found was an extended family torn apart by the seismic changes in Chinese society, and a village hollowed-out by emigration, neglect, and environmental despoliation. Combining family memoir, literary observation, and social commentary, Liang's by turns moving and shocking account became a bestselling book in China and brought her fame. Across China, many saw in Liang's remarkable and vivid interviews with family members and childhood acquaintances a mirror of their own families, and her observations about the way the greatest rural-to-urban migration of modern times has twisted the country resonated deeply. China in One Village tells the story of contemporary China through one clear-eyed observer, one family, and one village.Trade ReviewAn engaging read, with lively first-person narratives . it is in these stories that the universality of people's hopes, fears and frustrations really shines through. * New Internationalist *A lucid, accessible account of rural Chinese life, its stories worth far more than the statistics usually invoked in accounts of the pro­found change that has swept China. -- Jonathan Chatwin * South China Morning Post *A true literary sensation ... [Liang] pulls no punches. -- Ian Johnson * New York Times *Stunningly insightful ... What makes Liang's study so compelling is the way in which it offers a glimpse of a world in which personal problems ... exist on the same level as broader social and political problems -- Mark Rappolt * ArtReview *Overburdened grandparents, children who don't see their parents, workers straining to make a living in unwelcoming cities: Liang Hong's book, "China in One Village" (tr. Emily Goedde), gives a platform for these voices from the countryside. -- Mike Cormack * SupChina *The immediacy of China in One Village brings to life how China is changing in a way that more academic works cannot do. * rs21 *Fair-minded and sanguine ... one of the clearest narrative accounts of China's countryside available in English. -- Amy Hawkins * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisThis edited collection celebrates Patrick Wolfe's contribution to the study and critique of settler colonialism as a distinct mode of domination. The chapters collected here focus on the settler-colonial assimilation of land and people, and on what Wolfe insightfully defined as 'preaccumulation': the ability of settlers to mobilise technologies and resources unavailable to resisting Indigenous communities. Wolfe's militant and interdisciplinary scholarship is thus emphasised, together with his determination to acknowledge Indigenous perspectives and the efficacy of Indigenous resistances. In case studies of Australia, French Algeria, and the United States, contributors illustrate how seminal his contribution was and is. There are three core reasons why it is especially important to develop the field of thinking inaugurated by Wolfe: first, because the demand for Indigenous sovereignty has been crucial to recent struggles against neoliberal attacks in the settler societies; second, because a critique of settler colonialism and its logic of elimination has supported important struggles against environmental devastation; and third, because the ability to think race in ways that are not disconnected from other struggles is now more needed than ever. Racial capitalism and settler colonialism are as imbricated now as they always have been, and keeping both in mind at the same time highlights the need to establish and nurture solidarities that reach across established divides.Trade ReviewPraise for Settler Colonialism: A Theoretical Overview: The definitive theoretical and historical introduction to settler colonialism. * Oxford Bibliographies *Praise for Settler Colonialism: A Theoretical OverviewCrisply theorized. -- Zoë Laidlaw * The Historical Journal *Praise for How to Accept German Reparations: An idiosyncratic, far-ranging, well written book. This is several thoughtful books in one. -- Lora Wildenthal * German History *Praise for How to Accept German Reparations:This remarkable book is a deeply anthropological study of a problem that reaches back into the author's own familial past and connects it with an astonishing but entirely persuasive array of themes, including agency, victimhood, nationalism, racism, and religion. Slyomovics's measured, graceful prose undoes the false simplicities of attributing right and wrong-locating the book securely at the heart of what social anthropology is all about. -- Michael Herzfeld, Harvard UniversityPraise for The Performance of Human Rights in Morocco:An important contribution to scholarship on an area of the world that receives relatively little attention as well as an important contribution to what is fast becoming a fifth subfield for anthropology: legal anthropology. * Journal of Folklore Research *Patrick Wolfe reached into the dark heart of settler colonialism and provided us with a world changing theory, grammar, and politics with which to respond to the ongoing subjugation of colonised peoples. These essays enact the profound legacies of a singular intellectual-activist and demonstrate the enduring power of his analysis -- Melinda Hinkson, Director, Institute of Postcolonial Studies and Associate Professor of Anthropology, Deakin UniversitySetter colonial studies is impossible to imagine without the concepts that Patrick Wolfe developed over decades of thinking about Indigenous dispossession and racialization. Because colonialism is not 'post' in settler societies, the task of theorizing their modalities of domination and erasure remains a pressing task. Race, Place, Trace is a fitting tribute to, and continuation of, his singular legacy. -- A. Dirk Moses, author of The Problems of GenocidePatrick Wolfe would have loved this book. I could imagine him wanting to participate in the arguments that are offered throughout its pages, for all the chapters are infused with the same scholarly rigour and critical passion that characterised his own work. -- Ghassan Hage, Anthropology, University of Melbourne

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Book SynopsisIn 2021, the Chinese Communist Party celebrated a century of existence. Since the Party's humble beginnings in the Marxist groups of the Republican era to its current global ambitions, one thing has not changed for China's leaders: their claim to represent the vanguard of the Chinese working class. Spanning from the night classes for workers organised by student activists in Beijing in the 1910s to the labour struggles during the 1920s and 1930s; from the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution to the social convulsions of the reform era to China's global push today, this book reconstructs the contentious history of labour in China from the early twentieth century to this day (and beyond). This will be achieved through a series of essays penned by scholars in the field of Chinese society, politics, and culture, each one of which will revolve around a specific historical event, in a mosaic of different voices, perspectives, and interpretations of what constituted the experience of being a worker in China in the past century.Contributors: Corey Byrnes, Craig A. Smith, Xu Guoqi, Zhou Ruixue, Lin Chun, Elizabeth J. Perry, Tony Saich, Wang Kan, Gail Hershatter, Apo Leong, S.A. Smith, Alexander F. Day, Yige Dong, Seung-Joon Lee, Lu Yan, Joshua Howard, Bo Ærenlund Sørensen, Brian DeMare, Emily Honig, Po-chien Chen, Yi-hung Liu, Jake Werner, Malcolm Thompson, Robert Cliver, Mark W. Frazier, John Williams, Christian Sorace, Zhu Ruiyi, Ivan Franceschini, Chen Feng, Ben Kindler, Jane Hayward, Tim Wright, Koji Hirata, Jacob Eyferth, Aminda Smith, Fabio Lanza, Ralph Litzinger, Jonathan Unger, Covell F. Meyskens, Maggie Clinton, Patricia M. Thornton, Ray Yep, Andrea Piazzaroli Longobardi, Joel Andreas, Matt Galway, Michel Bonnin, A.C. Baecker, Mary Ann O'Donnell, Tiantian Zheng, Jeanne L. Wilson, Ming-sho Ho, Yueran Zhang, Anita Chan, Sarah Biddulph, Jude Howell, William Hurst, Dorothy J. Solinger, Ching Kwan Lee, Chloé Froissart, Mary Gallagher, Eric Florence, Junxi Qian, Chris King-chi Chan, Elaine Sio-Ieng Hui, Jenny Chan, Eli Friedman, Aaron Halegua, Wanning Sun, Marc Blecher, Huang Yu, Manfred Elfstrom, Darren Byler, Carlos Rojas, Chen Qiufan.Trade ReviewThis volume offers an exciting engagement with the extended historical event of the proletariat in China. Through dialogue between past and present and among scholars across the globe, the anthology's chronological organization makes it ideal for teaching, research, and casual reading. More important, the march of time demonstrates how workers as a class made themselves into a proletariat even as they were simultaneously unmade through state repression, capitalist advance, internal division, and globalized diffusion. In its insistence that any genuine commitment to communism take seriously the proletariat as a specifically laboring class, this book marks out a clear political position. The individual chapters are short, readable, informative, and passionate. -- Rebecca E. Karl, New York University, History DepartmentThis is not a history of Chinese labour or the Chinese labour movement. Proletarian China is rather a chronicle of insurgency, of a proletarian politics that again and again opens and disrupts spaces of representation. The Chinese Communist Party is of course implied in this history, which nevertheless goes well beyond it and often challenges it. A century of proletarian struggles, uprisings, and dreams parades before readers' eyes composing another history of contemporary China and at the same time inciting to imagine the future anew - in China and beyond. This is a remarkable book! -- Sandro Mezzadra, University of BolognaA tour de force! A single book that covers an entire century of the Chinese working class, its various phases, diverse voices, and hopes for the future. As it is customary for the Made in China Journal, the most salient thoughts and reflections are collected here. -- Luigi Tomba, University of SydneyPraise for Christian Sorace's Shaken Authority:With his detailed knowledge of the politics of Sichuan, and his ability to integrate specific policies into broader ideological formations, he has demonstrated the vital insights that can be gained through analysing the Communist Party on its own terms. One of the most fascinating of these insights is the fact that ideology can easily be transformed into a burden for the Party. -- Chris Courtney * PRC History Review *Sorace forces us to confront the truth that ideological framing has made the party remarkably resilient because it is difficult to weaken the shaper of reality itself. By holding up a mirror to those of us who study China, his honest reflections force us to face how easily we view the country through the lens of hypothetical fantasies. -- Gina Anne Tam * Journal of Asian Studies *Praise for Afterlives of Chinese Communism:What makes Afterlives particularly commendable is the way that it navigates the difficult terrain of Chinese Communism...The result is a volume of essays in which easy answers are not forthcoming. We are asked to "approach the Chinese Revolution...to stand in relation to it, and to feel something towards it." What we feel is often a mix of discomfort and inspiration. We encounter the euphoria of liberation, the state-organized cruelty of "speaking bitterness" to one's oppressors, the simultaneously positive and catastrophic consequences of collectivization, the Cultural Revolution's empowerment of the working classes and its chaotic collapse, the creation of new kinds of revolutionary class consciousness and their eventual disintegration. This is the complex history and fraught present of Chinese Communism and it is brought brilliantly to life across this collection of essays. -- Kai Heron * Jacobin *Afterlives at once performs an important documentary function, capturing the symbolic worlds of communist China in the past and present within a convenient index format; but it should also be praised for its analytical contribution, which offers a call to action for new ideas and politics to come. -- Aaron Su * China Review International *

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Book SynopsisWritten before the Jacobite rebellions irrevocably changed the face of Highland society, Martin Martin's A Description of the Western Islands of Scotland and A Late Voyage to St Kilda paint a fascinating picture of the Hebrides at a crucial point in their history. Long recognised as some of the most significant pieces of travel writing ever produced about Scotland (Boswell and Johnson found them indispensable on their famous tour of 1773), these texts offer a mine of information on the customs, traditions and way of life in the country's remote island communities. Sir Donald Monro, High Dean of the Isles, wrote his Description of the Western Islands of Scotland in 1549. He presents a fascinating record of a pastoral visit to islands still coping with the turbulent period after the fall of the Lord of the Isles.

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Book SynopsisAn illustrated guide to the Normans – the invaders of 1066 who changed English life forever The 1066 Norman conquest of England, led by William, Duke of Normandy (“the Conqueror”), was the single greatest political change England has ever seen. The Normans brought with them a new culture, which included law, architectural style and methods, and leisure pursuits. The old aristocracy was stripped of their assets and denounced, and in its place a new French aristocracy began to run the country – even bringing their language with them. The guide examines the impact the new Norman rule had on the English way of life. Look out for more Pitkin Guides on the very best of British history, heritage and travel.

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Book SynopsisBased on extensive studies into child welfare services, this important book brings together research into what works in service provision for minority ethnic families. Reviewing studies of the nature and adequacy of the services provided, and the outcomes for the children and their families, this book provides much-needed guidance for policy and practice around issues of cultural and ethnic background and identity, and puts forward suggestions for future research. The authors consider in particular:* the complex needs and identities of minority ethnic families who might use child welfare services* how families using social services view current practice* the impact of the formal child protection and court systems on ethnic minority families* placement patterns and outcomes for children from the different minority ethnic groups who are in residential care, foster care or adopted* cultural issues and `matching' the social worker to the family.Drawing on current government statistical returns and the 2001 national census, this wide-ranging analysis challenges dated research and practice and proposes a revisionary agenda for future research and culturally sensitive child welfare practice, making it essential reading for all child welfare professionals.Trade ReviewThoburn, Chand and Procter have produced a valuable contribution to our knowledge about service provision for minority ethnic children and their families. The authors provide an interpretation and summary of research under four broad and over-lapping areas of family support, child protection, child placement and social work practice, identifying ambiguities, contested areas, and major gaps. The section on child placement is particularly illuminating and contains important messages for practitioners... The authors rightly emphasise the complexity of the needs of minority ethnic children and their families and their multi-faceted identities. They stress the importance of avoiding stereotypes and assumptions based on limited knowledge or experiences of the language, culture or religion of different minority ethnic groups. -- British Journal of Social WorkThis is a very informative and comprehensive summary of a wide range of research in the field of working with minority ethnic children and families. -- CAFCASSThis book is an interesting and important resource for professionals who work with, look after or undertake research on children and young people from ethnic minority families. -- Children NowIn all, the book is both a credible and valuable reader's digest of information, sensible in its appraisals, yet ambitious in its intent. THe authors are to be commended for this wholly stimulating constellation of ideas and facts. -- Child and Family Social WorkTable of ContentsPreface. Acknowledgements. 1. A context to the review Beverley Prevatt Goldstein. Part I. The Research and the Messages. 2. Introduction. 3. Family Support Services. 4. Child Protection Services and the Family Courts. 5. Children looked after away from home or placed for adoption. 6. Messages from research on the social work service to parents and children of minority ethnic origin. 7. Next steps in researching child welfare service for minority ethnic children, parents and carers. Part II. Summaries of the Main Research Studies. Appendix 1. Ethnic composition for total UK population, Census 2001, Office for National Statistics. Appendix 2. Template for research summaries. Appendix 3. The approach to the research review. References.

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Book SynopsisThis book brings together a series of essays which unfold and illuminate the history of the Irish flour milling industry from the medieval period to the present day. Milling was one of Ireland’s foremost industries, playing a critically important role in the local economy of many districts, servicing farmers needs and processing some of the key components in the Irish food supply. Despite being the most widely dispersed industry in the country, with bread and other milling components playing a central role in the Irish diet, the topic has not received the attention it deserves from social or economic historians, who’ve focused more on the potato. This book addresses that lacunae and incorporates a range of new research to form a compre-hensive overview. Attractively illustrated by a large collection of photographs and drawings, Irish Flour milling will be of particular interest to social, economic and local historians, industrial archaeologists, ethnologists and anthropologists, and the many people with family connections to the industry: Bolands, Hallinans and Hughes; Pollexfens, Russells, Odlums and Shackletons. Contributors include: Dr Colin Rynne (NUI, Cork), on the industrial archaeology of Irish flour milling from the medieval period to 1880; Professor Louis Cullen (Trinity College, Dublin), on eighteenth-century flour milling; Dr Andy Bielenberg (NUI, Cork), on flour milling during the Union; Dr Richard Harrison (historian), on the Quakers and Irish flour milling 1790-1930; Glynn Jones (author of The Millers), on the introduction of rollers into flour milling 1880-1925; Dr Akihiro Takei (Osaka Gakuin University), on the political economy of Irish flour milling 1922-45; and Norman Campion (milling consultant), on Irish milling since the Second World War.

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Book SynopsisAs dusk fell on a misty evening in 1521, Martin Luther - hiding from his enemies at Wartburg Castle - found himself seemingly tormented by demons hurling walnuts at his bedroom window. In a fit of rage, the great reformer threw at the Devil the inkwell from which he was preparing his colossal translation of the Bible. A belief - like Luther's - in the supernatural, and in black magic, has been central to European cultural life for 3000 years. From the Salem witch trials to the macabre novels of Dennis Wheatley; from the sadistic persecution of eccentric village women to the seductive sorceresses of TV's Charmed; and from Derek Jarman's punk film Jubilee to Ken Russell's The Devils, John Callow brings the twilight world of the witch, mage and necromancer to vivid and fascinating life. He takes us into a shadowy landscape where, in an age before modern drugs, the onset of sudden illness was readily explained by malevolent spellcasting. And where dark, winding country lanes could terrify by night, as the hoot of an owl or shriek of a fox became the desolate cries of unseen spirits.Witchcraft has profoundly shaped the western imagination, and endures in the forms of modern-day Wicca and paganism. Embracing the Darkness is an enthralling account of this fascinating aspect of the western cultural experience.Trade ReviewIts eccentric breadth and listless weirdness will appeal to any curious reader. * Times Literary Supplement *Wide-ranging, well-researched and highly persuasive. * Revenant *Table of ContentsIntroduction The Figure of the Witch Out of the Shadows From Delusion to Demonic Pact Patterns of Belief 1: The Hedge-witch, the Healer and the Cunning Man Patterns of Belief 2: The Alchemist, the Necromancer and the Mage The Witch Hunters Women and Witchcraft The Nightmare Given Form ‘A Thing Grown Most Common’: Crisis and Conformity The Decline of Belief? The Witch and the Children The Witch as Muse Old Magic in the New World Conclusion: The Freedom to Dream Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis"Penultimate Adventures with Britannia" is the sixth volume in Wm. Roger Louis' "Adventures with Britannia" series and, as in the earlier volumes, this is not a sedate guided tour but an exciting journey by a range of distinguished writers and academics through British cultural, intellectual, literary and political life, in its contact with other cultures and with international politics; and the tour is conducted by one of our greatest historians of empire. War and empire dominated the twentieth century and beyond. They continue to shape international history, both politically and culturally. Bernard Porter shows the importance of culture on British imperial history, Priaya Satia's writes on the cultural foundation of British power in Iraq and Geoffrey Wheatcroft deals with the perennial problems of partition, here as experienced in India and Ireland.Dane Kennedy's "The New American Empire" covers the dominating theme in modern international relations. International politics remain centre stage but there are illuminating literary and artistic glances behind the scenes. These include Susan Pedersen's portrait of Frances Stevenson and her influence on Lloyd George even at the height of the First World War, Martin Gilbert on Tolkien and English culture and Hilary Spurling's "Reassessing Paul Scott" - vital for students of modern Indian history. There are fascinating vignettes of the art of Larry Carver on Felix Topolski and Martin Francis on Cecil Beaton. Felipe Fernandez Armesto's "An Accidental Criminal" rounds off a remarkable and rewarding volume and maintains the delightful tradition of Wm. Roger Louis' "Adventures" series.Table of ContentsTable of Contents:1. Kenneth O. Morgan, 'Lloyd George, the Germans, and the French'2. Susan Pedersen, 'Frances Stevenson'3. Keith Thomas, 'The Changing Shape of Historical Interpretation'4. Dan Jacobson, 'Kipling in South Africa'5. Martin Gilbert, 'Tolkien in the First World War'6. Bernard Porter, 'The British Empire and British Culture'7. Barry Gough, 'Arthur Marder and British Sea Power'8. John Davis, 'A Great Englishman Nonetheless: Edward Evans-Pritchard'9. John Summers, 'C. Wright Mills in England'10. Priaya Satia, 'The Cultural Foundations of British Power in Iraq'11. Dane Kennedy, 'The New American Empire and its British Antecedents'12. Hilary Spurling, 'Reassessing Paul Scott'13. Larry Carver, 'Felix Topolski: Caricaturist or Artist?'14. Martin Francis, 'Cecil Beaton and the Second World War'15. Geoffrey Wheatcroft, 'The Partitions of Ireland and India'16. Indivar Kamtekar, 'England and India'17. Wm. Roger Louis, 'Oxford and Suez'18. John Lonsdale, 'Britannia's Mau Mau'19. Felipe Fernandez Armesto, 'An Accidental Criminal'

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Book SynopsisChoice Outstanding Academic Title, 2008 A Cultural History of Animals in the Medieval Age investigates the changing roles of animals in medieval culture, economy and society in the period 1000 to 1400. The period saw significant changes in scientific and philosophical approaches to animals as well as their representation in art. Animals were omnipresent in medieval everyday life. They had enormous importance for medieval agriculture and trade and were also hunted for food and used in popular entertainments. At the same time, animals were kept as pets and used to display their owner's status, whilst medieval religion attributed complex symbolic meanings to animals. As with all the volumes in the illustrated Cultural History of Animals, this volume presents an overview of the period and continues with essays on the position of animals in contemporary Symbolism, Hunting, Domestication, Sports and Entertainment, Science, Philosophy, and Art. Volume 2 in the Cultural History of Animals edited by Linda Kalof and Brigitte ReslTrade ReviewThe Cultural History of Animals presents an innovative and compelling introduction to current scholarship about the historical relationships between people and other animals. Harriet Ritvo, Arthur J. Conner Professor of History, M.I.T. An innovative and ambitious project that synthesizes knowledge of animals as living creatures and their symbolic representations... an invaluable contribution to our understanding... A combination of surprise and entertainment with serious research gives these volumes a place in the best tradition of accessible science. Bernd Huppauf, New York University for H-Soz-u-Kult High quality editing, clear writing, and abundant visual illustrations ... These volumes will be basic to future scholarship dealing with animals and society. Essential. ChoiceTable of ContentsIntroduction: Animals in the Middle Ages Brigitte Resl, University of Liverpool 1. Animals in Medieval Folklore and Religion Sophie Page, University College London 2. Medieval Hunting An Smets, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and Baudouin van den Abeele, Universite Catholique de Louvain 3. Domestication Esther Pascua, University of St. Andrews 4. Animals in Medieval Sports, Entertainments, and Menageries Lisa Kiser, Ohio State University 5. Animals in Medieval Science Pieter Beullens, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven 6. Philosophical Beliefs Pieter De Leemans, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, and Matthew Klemm, John Hopkins University 7. Animals in Art in the Middle Ages Brigitte Resl, University of Liverpool Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn London: The Autobiography the life of the capital is told, for the first time, by those who made it and saw it at first hand. From Roman times to the 21st century, Londoners and visitors to the city have recounted the extraordinary events, everyday life and character of this unique and influential city - from politics, culture, sport, religion, and reportage. This book brings to vivid life the human trial of the capital including invasions by the Vikings, the brutal execution of Sir Thomas More, the sight of a whale swimming up the Thames and the rebuilding of St Paul's by Sir Christopher Wren, as well as the everyday life of the city. Includes contributions from George Orwell, Martin Amis, Dr Johnson, Karl Marx, Winston Churchill, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Virginia Woolfe, George Melly, Tacitus, Samuel Pepys and many others.Packed with personality and character, this book is a must-buy for anyone interested in London as well as a wonderful story of the city at the heart of the nation.Praise for Jon E Lewis:'A triumph' Saul David, author of Victoria's Army'Harrowing, funny and often unbelievable book.' Daily Express[A] compelling tommy's eye view of war from Agincourt to Iraq' Daily TelegraphTrade ReviewIt's all here in spades. * Ham and High *Fascinating ... brings the story of London to life * Good Book Guide *

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Book SynopsisThis volume gathers papers from the first conference ever to be held on the disappearance of writing systems, in Oxford in March 2004. While the invention and decipherment of writing systems have long been focuses of research, their eclipse or replacement have been little studied. Because writing is so important in many cultures and civilizations, its disappearance - followed by a period without it or by replacement by a different writing system - is of almost equal significance to invention as a mark of radical change. Probably more writing systems have disappeared than survived in the last five thousand years. Case studies from the Old and New Worlds are presented, ranging over periods from the first millennium BC to the present. In order to address many types of transmission, the broadest possible definition of 'writing' is used, notably including Mexican pictography and the Andean khipu system.One chapter discusses the larger proportion of known human societies which have not possessed complex material codes like writing, offering an alternative perspective on the long-term transmission of socially salient subjects. A concluding essay draws out common themes and offers an initial synthesis of results. This volume offers a new perspective on approaches to writing that will be significant for the understanding of writing systems and their social functions, literacy, memory, and high-cultural communication systems in general.Table of Contents1. John Bennet, Now You See It; Now You Don't! The Disappearance of the Linear A Script on Crete2. J. David Hawkins, The Disappearance of Writing Systems: Hieroglyphic Luwian3. Jeremy Black , The Obsolescence and Demise of Cuneiform Writing in Elam 4. David Brown, Increasingly Redundant: The Growing Obsolescence of the Cuneiform Script in Babylonia from 539 BC Postscript: Jerrold Cooper, Redundancy Reconsidered: Reflections on David Brown's Thesis5. Kathryn Lomas, Script Obsolescence in Ancient Italy: From Pre-Roman to Roman Writing6. Richard Salomon, Whatever Happened to Kharoṣṭhi? The Fate of a Forgotten Indic Script7. Martin Andreas Stadler, On the Demise of Egyptian Writing: Working with a Problematic Source Basis8. Claude Rilly, The Last Traces of Meroitic? A Tentative Scenario for the Disappearance of the Meroitic Script9. M. C. A. Macdonald, The Phoenix of Phoinikcia: Alphabetic Reincarnation in Arabia10. Stephen D. Houston, The Small Deaths of Maya Writing11. Elizabeth Hill Boone, The Death of Mexican Pictography12. Frank Salomon, Late Khipu Use13. Giovanni Stary, Disappearance of Writing Systems: The Manchu Case14. John Monaghan, Revelatory Scripts, 'the Unlettered Genius', and the Appearance and Disappearance of Writing 15. Chris Gosden, History without Text16. John Baines, Writing and its Multiple Disappearances

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Book SynopsisThis volume gathers papers from the first conference ever to be held on the disappearance of writing systems, in Oxford in March 2004. While the invention and decipherment of writing systems have long been focuses of research, their eclipse or replacement have been little studied. Because writing is so important in many cultures and civilizations, its disappearance - followed by a period without it or by replacement by a different writing system - is of almost equal significance to invention as a mark of radical change. Probably more writing systems have disappeared than survived in the last five thousand years. Case studies from the Old and New Worlds are presented, ranging over periods from the first millennium BC to the present. In order to address many types of transmission, the broadest possible definition of 'writing' is used, notably including Mexican pictography and the Andean khipu system. One chapter discusses the larger proportion of known human societies which have not possessed complex material codes like writing, offering an alternative perspective on the long-term transmission of socially salient subjects. There is a concluding essay that draws out common themes and offers an initial synthesis of results. The volume offers a new perspective on approaches to writing that will be significant for the understanding of writing systems and their social functions, literacy, memory, and high-cultural communication systems in general.Table of Contents1. John Bennet, Now You See It; Now You Don't! The Disappearance of the Linear A Script on Crete 2. J. David Hawkins, The Disappearance of Writing Systems: Hieroglyphic Luwian 3. Jeremy Black A , The Obsolescence and Demise of Cuneiform Writing in Elam 4. David Brown, Increasingly Redundant: The Growing Obsolescence of the Cuneiform Script in Babylonia from 539 BC Postscript: Jerrold Cooper, Redundancy Reconsidered: Reflections on David Brown's Thesis 5. Kathryn Lomas (Institute of Classical Studies, University College London), Script Obsolescence in Ancient Italy: From Pre-Roman to Roman Writing 6. Richard Salomon (University of Washington), Whatever Happened to Kharohi? The Fate of a Forgotten Indic Script 7. Martin Andreas Stadler (University of Wurzburg), On the Demise of Egyptian Writing: Working with a Problematic Source Basis 8. Claude Rilly (CNRS, France), The Last Traces of Meroitic? A Tentative Scenario for the Disappearance of the Meroitic Script 9. M. C. A. Macdonald (Institute of Oriental Studies, Oxford), The Phoenix of Phoinikcia: Alphabetic Reincarnation in Arabia 10. Stephen D. Houston, The Small Deaths of Maya Writing 11. Elizabeth Hill Boone (Tulane University), The Death of Mexican Pictography 12. Frank Salomon (University of Wisconsin), Late Khipu Use 13. Giovanni Stary, Disappearance of Writing Systems: The Manchu Case 14. John Monaghan (University of Illinois), Revelatory Scripts, 'the Unlettered Genius', and the Appearance and Disappearance of Writing 15. Chris Gosden (Institute of Archaeology, Oxford), History without Text 16. John Baines, Writing and its Multiple Disappearances.

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Book SynopsisFor over three years, photographer Heike Thiele and writer Winifred McNulty have captured images and stories from the last traditional shops in the North West of Ireland. Their journey – across Donegal, Leitrim, Tyrone, Fermanagh, Sligo and Cavan –has taken them through an Aladdin’s Cave of drapery and hardware, to abandoned creameries and shops where empty shelves are filled only with the stories of different times. Based on a series of highly successful exhibitions across the North West, this book is a highly visual record of the stories of changing face of rural Ireland.

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Book SynopsisMelancholy Witness is the published collection of the images of Seán Hillen’s lauded exhibition of photography, documenting the years of The Troubles in Northern Ireland. Combining personality with documentary history, what emerges is a powerful and compelling story of unrest, beauty and change.

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Book SynopsisThis book is a modern investigation of an ancient virtue, inspired by a group for stage-frightened musicians in 1940s Manhattan. Coinciding with the terrifying height of World War Two, it was called The Society of Timid Souls. Seventy years later, as fear about everything from terrorism to economic meltdown has become part of our daily lives, Polly Morland reconvenes the society, setting out to discover what it means to be brave in an age of anxiety.Her journey-and this book-is full of amazing people and surprising ideas. It explores how and why people are brave, from battlefield to hospital ward, circus tightrope to suburban street, disaster zone to political protest. It throws light on some of the myths and lies that surround our favourite virtue. And most of all, it asks can we learn to be brave?

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